Last week in AB: June 9, 2025

Updates on coal, Smith being Smith, Canada and the U.S.

Alberta

Crack team for coal mining

Danielle Smith, Brian Jean, Rebecca Schulz, RJ Sigurdson, and Chelsea Petrovic are hosting a town hall in Fort MacLeod on Wednesday, June 11. Brian Jean often claims there’s ways to keep selenium out of the water, but doesn’t like to talk about how much is already in the water from coal mines closed decades ago.

Maybe we need more “world vision”

During Danielle Smith’s career as a professional rage baiter, she authored such gems as “schoolkids don’t need computers; pencils are more cost efficient anyway,” and “smoking is fine — doctors are just fear-mongering against a capitalist success story.”

When she was sworn in as premier, Ms. Smith claimed that “the unvaccinated are the most discriminated group in my lifetime.” Ms. Smith is in her early 50’s, has spent her career in television, radio, and politics, either writing or talking about current events, and also once shed crocodile tears for LGBT youth.

Ms. Smith is the same person who assured Albertans that she understood she was no longer being paid to espouse misinformation for “likes” but now had a serious job she would take seriously.

That was prior to suggesting at a gathering of her party supporters that “if anyone is (spreading chemtrails over Alberta), it’s the U.S. Department of Defense.”

Ostensibly, you can take the girl out of the mis-infotainment industry but you can’t take the mis-infotainment out of the girl.

There’s two sides to every story; and then there’s (Danielle Smith’s).

Short-lived promo for “The Danielle Smith Show” on Corus Radio’s 770 CHQR circa 2017

In a recent interview with Vassy Kapelos on CTV’s Question Period, in response to Ms. Kapelos’ assertion that oil production (and profits) has increased year over year since 2021, the Premier of Alberta, Canada claimed “we’ve got the lowest living standards in the world.”

Granted, she’s spent a good part of the year in Washington, D.C., hobnobbing with the benefactors of millions from special interest groups while she is forced to perform regularly for thousands of Albertans paying a measly $500 to $2000 a plate at her fundraising dinners.

Although I’m 99.9 per cent certain I’m not the only person who had to sit through World Vision commercials growing up, I’ll concede that I may have an outdated view of what the “lowest living standard in the world” actually looks like.

For instance, one thing I definitely didn’t say to my children was “finish that up! There are starving children in the world!” I also didn’t serve them liver — ever — so it’s possible I deprived us both of the opportunity.

After looking for anything to back up what Ms. Smith was possibly referring to, I’m pleased to say that most indications are that Canada is still considered among the top ten countries (if not the top five) for quality of life and living standards. The only people who think Canada is not one of the best countries to call home are the separatists she surrounds herself with.

After Washington visit, Smith says bring back U.S. liquor

Apparently, as long as tariffs don’t affect Danielle Smith personally, why fight them? It’s the Premier’s latest clap back to the rest of the country since the First Minister’s Meeting last Monday in Saskatoon, after which she said she was “encouraged” by the change in tone and vision from the PM.

It’s a good thing she’s contradictory in general because having to hop around in between the separatists in her party who want to stick it to Canada, and the majority of Albertans who want to work with Canada will have her taking wild swings regularly as she tries to keep her divided supporter base from needing to find a new home.

Spoiler: it won’t be the separatists who leave — they’ve never been this close to power and they aren’t giving it up for anything.

Canada

Pierre Poilievre probably isn’t sleeping well

Canada to meet 2 per cent NATO spending targets this year

Creative accounting? Apparently Justin Trudeau once remarked that moving the Coast Guard from Oceans and Fisheries Canada to Defence would help the country meet its NATO target but didn’t move the division. It’s one of many line items, including new spending, that is now being made to build up Canada’s internal and allied defence.

I pondered whether Canada should have mandatory military training back in May and I’ve been trying to figure out what this could realistically look like. One suggestion was that we adopt something like the Nordic model of Total Defence where service includes civil service options. While my initial goal was a mix between building a stronger connection with Canada and between all Canadians, I also see the value in having more people trained for internal defence.

The goal is not to become an aggressor, or to force people to fight abroad, but to have a population where so many people have training that it acts as a deterrent. It’s the same thought process behind adding a home security system; most crimes — from petty theft to physical harm — are crimes of opportunity. The more security you have, the less likely you are to be targeted. That’s what I want for Canada and I’ll probably be talking about it more as I keep meeting people who are also thinking about it.

Mixed reviews on invitees to the G7 conference in Kananaskis, AB

Prime Minister Mark Carney caused waves by inviting India’s President Modi; some are no doubt pleased, others are not. The invitation does signal a potential reset in foreign affairs and after 10 years of one leader, it’s probably a path that needs to at least be explored by a new one.

Also on the list are Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Indonesia, and South Korea.

U.S.

ICE was on patrol in Los Angeles over the weekend and residents decided they’d had enough and took to the streets to protest. The feds called in the National Guard, Governor Newsome spat back, and today I read an article claiming the U.S. is no longer a stable country. So, that’s going well.

I didn’t say it last week but even while I was writing about the U.S. being “too free” to become the world’s department store, I wondered how far the Trump Administration would go to remove those freedoms. Unasked, but answered, I suppose.

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